At a time when women are protesting across the country, demanding their right to pray at all shrines, the Home Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Babulal Gaur’s recent statement is likely to add more fuel to the controversy. It’s also a stark reminder of why it’s a long and tough fight against gender discrimination.  

“Leave it…it will be enough for them (women) even if they worship at home,” he said when he was asked about the present debacle over the right to worship for women, Zee News reported. 

For centuries, women have been banned from praying at the sanctum of the Shani Shingnapur temple in Maharashtra. To protest against this inequality, around 1,500 women from all over the state had gathered at the temple this Republic Day. However, the police stopped them from entering the town itself and about 500 women were detained at the Supa police station.